Will Principled Stands Help or Hurt House Freedom Caucus in November?

Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations Rep. Mark Meadows questions U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske about the Visa Waiver Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act in Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2016. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection Photo by Glenn Fawcett)

In The Wall Street Journal, Kristina Peterson reports that members of the House Freedom Caucus will face a mixed response in November’s congressional elections. Will the caucus’s principled stands help or hurt it at the polls? Peterson writes:

The Freedom Caucus’s chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows (R., N.C.) said he is confident his colleagues will be rewarded by voters for sticking to their conservative principles but didn’t dismiss the competitive fights they face in the fall.

“Every member of Congress, not just Freedom Caucus members, are trying to prepare more,” Mr. Meadows said in an interview. “The best way to prepare is to deliver on the promises we made to the American people.”

Two House Republicans from Indiana lost the Senate primary to a businessman. Rep. Evan Jenkins lost the West Virginia Senate primary to the state’s attorney general, and Rep. Robert Pittenger (R., N.C.) became the first incumbent this year to lose his own primary.

The Freedom Caucus has had mixed results at the polls recently. GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko recently won an Arizona special election and is expected to become a member of the group. Mr. Pittenger was defeated by Mark Harris, a pastor whom the Freedom Caucus is expected to endorse.